


Professional Courtesy

by afteriwake



Series: nongentorum [72]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Angry Sherlock, Annoyed Greg Lestrade, Comforting Sherlock, Crime Scenes, Decisive Sherlock, Established Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, F/M, Gentle Kissing, Inspired By Tumblr, Molly Is Sherlock's Partner, Post-The Final Problem, Professional Courtesy, Smart Molly, Unsure Molly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-16 03:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10562646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: Sherlock feels Molly was disrespected at a crime scene by Lestrade, who isn’t used to her being his partner, and he makes his displeasure at this known quite plainly.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a prompt at [sherlollythoughtoftheday](http://sherlollythoughtoftheday.tumblr.com/post/147898394195/sherlock-takes-molly-on-a-case-and-just-watches) on Tumblr that went " _Sherlock takes Molly on a case and just watches her investigate around the crime scene until Lestrade snaps him out of it._ " I may have had Lestrade be a little more annoyed than usual, but I just imagine it's been a long day for him.

“You know what I like most about people? Pets.”

Sherlock looked on, wearing an amused smile. Well, not _really_ amused, at least not in a smug way. He was amused, but he was proud, too. Molly was quite good at this, at being his partner. She had a natural knack for deduction that John wasn’t _quite_ as gifted with. She could take in a room and see more things than he did, plus she managed to put people at ease in a way that amazed him. He wondered if it would perhaps hurt John’s feelings if he asked Molly to accompany him more often.

“Sherlock,” he heard Lestrade say as he felt a sharp jab in his ribs. He leaned sideways slightly to absorb the jab and then glared at Lestrade. “Stop drooling and start doing your thing.”

“Molly’s doing well enough,” he said with a sniff.

“She’s rambling about pets,” Lestrade said, shaking his head.

Sherlock rolled his eyes and noticed Molly had stopped talking and was looking at them, a slightly hurt expression on her face. Oh, now he was quite in the mood to let his fist impact with Lestrade’s jaw just as hard as his elbow had impacted with his ribs. Or maybe nine hundred times harder, with the fact that Molly looked as if she had made a mistake. Sherlock may have been “drooling,” to quote the inspector, but he had _also_ been paying attention. He moved over to Molly and bent down to the body. “Explain the difference between canine fur follicles and feline fur follicles again, Molly. More slowly and in simpler terms so even an imbecile can understand.”

Molly flushed and he knew then he had said it all wrong, but she did as he said, and after he had used his pocket magnifier to see that these could, in fact, be canine fur follicles or possibly even some canine/wolf-hybrid, he saw the figurative lightbulb go off over Lestrade’s head, and he began jotting down the names that Molly told him to contact. When he walked away from them she sighed, looking at Sherlock. “I fouled up, didn’t I?”

“No, Molly. You did quite brilliantly. It was Lestrade who didn’t see it,” he said. He looked up at her. “It’s quite obvious some large animal in the canine family kept our victim down. Now the question is to find out the type and who owns that type.”

Molly nodded. “I...are you sure I did alright?”

Sherlock nodded and then stood up, kissing the top of her head. He was still unused to physical affection with Molly, even after everything. After the forced love confessions at Sherrinford they had worked hard to get to this point, where they were relatively at ease with each other in all the ways that counted, and when he pulled away and saw her relaxed pose and the relieved smile on her face, he knew the gesture had been appropriate. “We can’t blame Anderson’s shoddy work for missing the fur samples, so I’ve taken the liberty of appropriating a few to take to the lab for us to examine. Would you join me?”

“I would love to,” she said. “It’s strange going to Barts and not the morgue, but I’m getting used to it. Though I will admit, sometimes I feel more comfortable in the morgue still.”

“We could use the path lab, if it’s not occupied with interns,” he said, sealing his evidence up and pocketing it. “If that will help.”

“Oh, it’s not that. I just don’t...I don’t know. I don’t feel as though I’m a good partner.”

That brought him up short. She was, for all intents and purposes, one of the best partners he’d had. John was good, but Mary had been better and Molly was nearly as good as Mary. Different skill sets, of course, but for a long time after their not-date date, as she had called it, when they had worked together, he had hoped he might have another chance to work with her. And then everything got complicated, and now that it _wasn’t_ , they were able to work together again, something he found an utter delight. How did she not see this? How did she not know how much he enjoyed her time as his partner, and her unique insights and her overall company?

He had to show her.

He moved away from her and went over the short distance to Lestrade. “Molly is my new partner as often as I can have her,” he said to Lestrade. “If you can’t accept that and treat her with the respect she deserves as an assistant consulting detective, I will no longer offer you my services.” And with that, he turned on heel, leaving Lestrade to mull over his words.

Molly had a shocked look on her face. “Greg is gobsmacked, Sherlock,” she said.

“Good,” he said, huffing it out. “You are my preferred partner right now, and if he can’t treat you in a positive manner then I’ll cut my association with the Yard.”He reached over and took her hand in his. “You will always be more important than cases because I love you.”

Molly smiled, leaning in and kissing him. “You say that _now_ ,” she said. “But I appreciate the sentiment. And I love you too.” With that, he squeezed her hand, glad that she understood.


End file.
